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 Carol A. Bennis, Executive Director (970) 419-4372 www.beetstreet.org Beet Street has been underwriting on KUNC since December 2007. This month they are presenting the series, Social Media: Telling Stories, Changing Lives, which includes a visit from N.P.R.’s StoryCorp. www.beetstreet.org/Social-Media Here’s a closer look at Beet Street: What is Beet Street? Beet Street is a non-profit organization that presents thematic arts, cultural and scientific programs in collaboration with established local organizations to raise cultural awareness and to distinguish Fort Collins, Colorado as a community where everyone is welcome to share in discussion, reflection and creative expression. What’s with the Beet? Don’t you mean Beat? Any attempt to label a scene is futile, and yet events and moments too often need an adjective – a way to describe their qualities. Our reference to a beet is obscure, but we love using the root system of a beet as a metaphor – firmly rooted in the history of Fort Collins. A beet pushes through fertile soil. It represents unity between past and future, a notion of growth and the simple beauty of potential energy. Our name is a tribute to the agricultural legacy of our community – and a time of a significant turning point in Fort Collins’ economic history. Just as the cultivation of sugar beets substantially leveraged the economy of Fort Collins at the turn of the last century, Beet Street is poised to do the same early in the 21st century by mobilizing the cultural arts as an economic engine. The relationship between the sugar beet and Beet Street goes even deeper than that. The sugar beet is a hardy plant characterized by an extensive root system. It develops a strong, deep taproot, and surface root system of profuse, multi-branched, widely spreading laterals and a more vertically penetrating, extensive system of branches. Not unlike our collaboration and intersection with the established cultural arts of this community. (Okay, now we’ll stop with the beet-talk…!) Where is Beet Street? You may have noticed that there really isn’t a street bearing our name. Beet Street is a collective of events, ideas and experiences all taking place in the Old Town District of Downtown Fort Collins. And, while our goal is to establish a home (a dedicated amphitheater) for Beet Street programs in the next few years, wherever you will find activity, excitement, and movement is where you’ll find Beet Street. Are you the group building an amphitheater on the Poudre River? Are you going to do the programming in the Bohemian Foundation’s Oxbow development? The amphitheater you refer to is the one the Bohemian Foundation is building – right? No. No. And, no. The Bohemian Foundation’s project, a unique and exciting venue, is a private development dedicated to the vision of that organization. While Beet Street will not occupy this venue, we are committed to working with the Bohemian organization to bring added excitement to the Fort Collins’ cultural experience. Are you building an amphitheater? Yes. Our goal is to build a dedicated, year-round home for Beet Street programs. At the moment, have engaged a team of consultants and architects to proceed with a feasibility analysis and preliminary design to help our project move forward. We currently estimate a venue between 3,000 – 5,000 seats and envision open-air structure with protection from the elements and the ability to provide comfortable shelter in the winter months. Beet Street is a Fort Collins Downtown Development project designed to leverage established cultural arts opportunities and grow the audiences and cultural tourism for Old Town Fort Collins. |
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